1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to anti-inflammatory milk, a process for its production and a method for its use in the treatment of inflammation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Inflammation, as defined in Dorland's Medical Dictionary, is "a localized protective response elicited by injury or destruction of tissues which serves to destroy, dilute or wall off (squester) both the ingurious agent and the injured tissue. It is characterized in the acute form by the classical sequence of pain (dolor), heat (calor), redness (rubor), swelling (tumor), and loss of function (functio laesa). Histologically, it involves a complex series of events including dilation of the arterioles, capillaries, and venules with increased permeability and blood flow; exudation of fluids, including plasma proteins; and leukocytic migration into the inflammatory focus."
The inflammatory response is any response characterized by inflammation as defined above. It is well known to those skilled in the medical arts that the inflammatory response causes much of the physical discomfort, i.e., pain and loss of function, that has come to be associated with different diseases and injuries. Accordingly, it is a common medical practice to administer pharmacological agents which have the effect of neutralizing the inflammatory response. Agents having these properties are classified as anti-inflammatory drugs. Anti-inflammatory drugs are used for the treatment of a wide spectrum of disorders and the same drugs are often used to treat different diseases. Treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs is not for the disease but rather for the symptom, i.e., inflammation.
Corticosteroids represent the most widely used class of compounds for the treatment of the anti-inflammatory response. Proteolytic enzymes represent another class of compounds which are claimed to have anti-inflammatory effects. Hormones which directly or indirectly cause the adrenal cortex to produce and secrete steroids represent another class of anti-inflammatory compounds. A number of non-hormonal anti-inflammatory agents have been described. Examples of steroidal and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents are listed in the Physician's Desk Reference to Pharmaceuticals, Specialities, and Biologicals, 1979.
The natural and synthetic corticosteroid preparations cause a number of severe side effects including elevation of blood pressure, salt and water retention, and increased potassium and calcium excretion. Moreover, corticosteroids may mask the signs of infection and enhance dissemination of infectious microorganisms. These hormones are not considered safe for use in pregnant women, and long-term corticosteroid treatment has been associated with gastric hyperactivity and/or peptic ulcers. Treatment with these compounds may also aggravate diabetes mellitus, requiring higher doses of insulin, and psychotic disorders. Hormonal anti-inflammatory agents which are indirectly to increase the production of endogenous corticosteroids have the same potential for adverse side effects. The non-hormonal anti-inflammatory agents are synthetic biochemical compounds which can be toxic at high doses with a wide spectrum of undesirable side effects. Accordingly, in spite of the large number of anti-inflammatory agents that are currently available, there still exists a need for a safe, effective, anti-inflammatory product which is free of side effects and adverse reactions.
If a natural food product, such as milk for example, could be obtained having anti-inflammatory effects it would be an easily administerable, readily available, safe therapeutic composition.
It has been known in the prior art to produce milks having a variety of therapeutic effects. The present inventor for example has disclosed a milk containing antibodies to Streptococcus mutans which has dental caries inhibiting effects (Beck, British Pat. No. 1,505,513). The milk is obtained by immunizing a cow with S. mutans antigen in two stages and obtaining the therapeutic milk therefrom. The present inventor has also disclosed a milk having antiarthritic properties (co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 875,140 filed Feb. 6, 1978). Heinbach, U.S. Pat. No. 3,128,230, has described milk containing globulins of .alpha.,.beta. and .gamma. components, by inocculating a cow with antigenic mixtures. Petersen (U.S. Pat. No. 3,376,198 and Canadian Pat. No. 587,849), Holm, U.S. application (published) Ser. No. 628,987 and Tunnak et al (British Pat. No. 1,211,876) have also described antibody-containing milks. None of the aforementioned references however disclose or suggest milk having anti-inflammatory properties.